Delaware Writ Large?

Christine O’Donnell!
There is a name to be reckoned with. There is a lesson to be learned!
With the primary season upon us, many conservative Republicans are intent on ensuring that their party nominates a sufficiently conservative candidate for president. They want to make certain that the person who gets elected will govern as a conservative—not merely sound like one on the hustings.
Many conservatives also seem to believe that no matter whom they nominate he or she can beat Obama. They are certain that Barack is so badly wounded by his legislative mistakes that a majority of Americans are eager to see him gone.
These same voters seem to have forgotten Ms. O’Donnell. As you may recall, she was the one the Tea Party managed to get nominated to fill Joe Biden’s senate seat. It was initially assumed that the Republican representative from Delaware would coast to an easy victory. But No! With O’Donnell as his opponent, it was the Democrat who romped.
This happened because conservative activists would not settle for moderation. Instead, they got a liberal Obama clone. Their victory in nominating O’Donnell quickly went sour when ordinary Delawareans refused to elect someone who had flirted with witchcraft.
The moral of the story is that American voters have limits. If they perceive someone as extremist, they shy away. No doubt they have been fooled—most recently by Obama—nevertheless they do not want leaders who are out of the mainstream.
The problem conservatives currently face is that the Republican alternatives to Mitt Romney are all regarded as too radical by a large proportion of moderates. Rick Santorum, New Gingrich, and Ron Paul all seem extreme to the swing voters who will determine our next president.
No, let me reformulate the problem. Our real predicament is that a large proportion of Republican voters refuse to believe this cold, hard fact. To use a phrase that got Mitt’s father in trouble, they have brainwashed themselves into thinking that because they love someone, moderates will too.
Sorry! Most Americans believe that Santorum is a religious zealot. They hear that he is against birth control or that he got sick when John Kennedy defended the separation of church and state, and they get weak in the knees. They may be misinterpreting Rick’s convictions, but this is what they think.
As for Newt, people are fascinated by his debating skills, but worry about his propensity to shoot from the hip. There is a reason, other than negative advertising, why Gingrich’s numbers fell like a rock after South Carolina. Many primary voters feared that there would not be enough votes coming from the moon to overcome Obama’ advantage in the regular election.
With Regard to Paul, most voters are not teenagers. They may admire Paul’s sincerity and tenacity, but they do not want his finger on the nuclear trigger.
As an adopted Georgian, I am particularly distressed that another adopted Georgia, namely Gingrich, is leading in the state polls. Having learned at close hand how unstable and vindictive he can be, I cannot imagine that the good people of my home state would vote for him if they were privy to his real character.
The bottom line—what wakes me up in the middle of the night—is that my fellow conservatives might have a “death wish.” Despite protests about seeking an electable candidate, they refuse to recognize that this person is Romney.
Back in the day when we were fighting the Soviet Union, some people would chant, “Better Dead than Red.” Many people seem to have reached a similar conclusion with respect to conservatism. They apparently prefer death to voting for a perceived moderate.
Sadly, if they vote that way on Tuesday, thereby ensuring Obama’s reelection, they will leave our nation, if not dead, then on life support.
Melvyn L. Fein. Ph.D.
Professor of Sociology
Kennesaw State University